When Dell crossed the bargain pricing of its Inspiron laptops with the design sense of its XPS line, something sensational emergeda new mainstream laptop line called Dell Studio. With the new line, Dell hopes to reel in the latest generation of back-to-schoolers, content creators, social-network addicts, and camera enthusiasts, just to name a few groups. The Dell Studio 15 is a stylish 15-inch laptop that represents the convergence of the Dell Inspiron 1525 and XPS M1530. Some of its highlights include spectacular performance scores, excellent configuration options, and an extensive color palette. It earns the Editors' Choice for mainstream laptops because it offers all of these things for just $1,199 (direct, E-Value code DNDPUA1, for a limited time).

This is not the first time I've seen wacky colors being offered on a Dell laptop. Among the seven being offered, Flamingo Pink, Tangerine Orange, Plum Purple and Spring Green were also available with the Inspiron 1525. The Studio 15 continues the same tradition but with a slight twist. You can either choose a solid color or spruce up a model in any of the seven colors with in-mold decorations (IMD), like the designs on the HP Pavilion dv5t, patterns embedded beneath a glossy finish. Granted, it's not as fancy as the aluminum trim found in the XPS M1530 and the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Penryn), but it's to Dell's credit that the Studio 15 combines two of the most commonly used design trends in laptops.

The Studio 15's styling is also a tribute to the XPS M1530. You might recognize the drop-down hinges, similar to the ones on the M1530 and the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510. It even has the same tapering design as the M1530, becoming thinner as you move toward the bezel. At 5.9 pounds, it's a shade lighter than the 6.2-pound M1530, although the Apple MacBook Pro is still the undisputed 15-inch mainstream lightweight with its 5.3-pound frame. I'm surprised that Dell didn't offer a 13-inch Studio, as it would appeal to mobile professionals. As it stands now, the Studio line consists of the 15 and the Studio 1735 17-inch widescreen. (Stay tuned for my review of the latter.)

You won't be disappointed with the typing experience on the Studio 15, as the keyboard, mouse buttons, and touchpad are engineered to perfection. Like the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch, the 15's widescreen is backed by LEDs and has a 1,440-by-900 resolution, which delivered a superb viewing experience. What the MacBook Pro doesn't offer and the 15 does is an option to upgrade to a 1,920-by-1,200 (1080p) resolution screen.

A wide array of upgradable features makes the 15 shine. Embellishing its sleek look is a slot-loading DVD burner, which can be upgraded to a Blu-ray reader for $200. You can enhance the Blu-ray experience by using the included HDMI port to display the image on a larger monitor. With the proliferation of digital cameras and video content, you'll be glad of the four-in-one card reader, the variety of hard-drive configurations (my review unit has a 250GB drive), and the 2-megapixel webcam, to help you stay in line with these trends. Mobile broadband or a cellular modem is a feature I've been pleading for on the MacBook Pro, the Gateway M-152XL, and the Toshiba Satellite A305-S6845. At least Dell offers it as an option on the 15.

Performance-wise, the 15 and the MacBook Pro 15-inch (Penryn) are worthy adversaries, with the slight edge going to the 15. With its 2.5-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, its SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score of 122 topped the Apple's by 9 percent and is the best Overall score we've seen so far on a mainstream laptop. The Dell also led the pack in video encoding and Photoshop CS3 tests. The Gateway M-152XL came close to matching the 15's SYSmark results falling within a point short of its Overall score. As for 3D gaming, the 15 has a midrange ATI graphics card, which isn't as powerful as the ones that come with the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (nVidia GeForce 8600M GT) and ASUS M50Sa-A1 (ATI Radeon HD 3600). At this price point, however, be grateful that you are getting a decent gaming card. Finally, 3 hours 20 minutes doesn't look too impressive as a battery score, but keep in mind that this is a 53-Wh battery. You can easily get into the 5-hour range with the 9-cell upgrade ($79).

The Dell Studio 15 inherits many of the XPS 1530's strengths and almost none of its weaknesses. What it really comes down to, however, is superb configuration options. The 15 outperforms many of its toughest competitors and has the potential to inflict even more damage when upgraded. The only competitor with a richer feature set and just as many upgradable options is the HP Pavilion dv5t, but undercutting Dell's current price will be a monumental task for HP.

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Cisco Cheng is the Lead Analyst of the laptop team at PCMag.com. He’s a one-man wrecking crew who tests and writes about anything considered a laptop (yes, even netbooks). He’s been with PC Mag for over 10 years and gets occasional headaches from all the technical knowledge he has absorbed during that time. He’d still be snowboarding and playing basketball had he not been through multiple knee surgeries (well, two). Now he spends his time with Google Reader, the iPhone 3G, and his now 3-year...
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